


Ripples in the ocean

by Tabata



Series: Leoverse [78]
Category: Glee
Genre: Age Difference, Fluff, M/M, Polyamory, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 21:24:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20552921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabata/pseuds/Tabata
Summary: BookExpo, unknown year in the near future.It's the first time that the three authors of the family – Leo, Cody and Levi – are out in public after telling the world they are in a polyamory relationship, which also includes Leo's husband, Blaine. Leo is very excited about that. So much in fact that he decides to crash Levi's book presentation.





	Ripples in the ocean

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING:** This story is a what if from the original 'verse. In the canon course of events that followed the beginning of Broken Heart Syndrome, this has never happened.  
Specifically, this is a a sub-branch of the main canon 'verse branch (if you're familiar with the tree-structure of the many 'verses composing this saga) in which Cody and Vince's marriage ended, and Cody ended up living with Leo and Blaine. He started a proper relationship with the first with permission from the latter, who's more than just an observing part in it and, eventually, even found a boyfriend of his own, Levi. Despite having to share a boyfriend with him, Leo likes Levi a lot, and in this particular story you get to see their relationship too.

Book fairs have an atmosphere all of their own. On some level, it's like going to Disneyland: once you walk through the door, you enter another world. Leo remembers the first time he attended one as a guest author, he was so nervous that he didn't enjoy one second of it, except for the fact that he was flattered, of course, to be there and that there really were people who actually wanted to meet him. Now, after ten years and more than fifteen books, book fairs are by far the best part of his job – actual writing excluded, of course.

He's been virtually everywhere in the world at this point – Paris, Madrid, Turin, Moscow – but his all time favorite fair has always been and still is BookExpo. First, because it was the very first big fair he attended to with his first book, so he's got an emotional connection to it. Secondly, because being in the United States, it's always somewhat close to home, so Mark always lets him bring Blaine along without making too much of a fuss. Leo hates to be away from him for long periods of time, even if it's because he's promoting a book he loves. He resists a few weeks, a month top, and then he starts being insufferable and he needs to see his husband, which forces Mark to either fly him back home for a few days or fly Blaine to wherever they are, both things being extremely unpractical.

BookExpo is a huge and tiring event, and Leo usually has a lot of work to do between presentations, round tables, book signing sessions and interviews, but he has no problem dealing with twelve-hour long workdays if he knows Blaine's around or easily reachable. It's just a mental thing – it'd be exactly the same if Blaine just were home because he doesn't help him with anything when Leo brings him along in tour, he's just there – but mental things are basically all he's made of, so they're something he takes very seriously.

This year, though, Blaine himself asked him if he could come with because the BookExpo is going to be particularly special for their household. In fact, this will be the first time that the three authors of the family – Leo, Cody and Levi – will all be promoting something at the same time, and Blaine is very excited to be there to support them all. Thinking about it, Leo should be offended that his husband showed interest in a book fair only now that those two attend it, but he himself is so excited about it that he's gonna let it slide for once. 

Leo comes out with a new book more or less every other year, and in the year he doesn't, he still writes some thing or another, alone or in collaboration with another author. In other words, he's always presenting a project at some fair or another. Unlike Leo, instead, Levi doesn't like promoting his stuff that much and he avoids doing so if he can, so he's hardly ever present to book fairs as an author, and Cody is an illustrator and he usually doesn't have anything to present personally. They had never been working all together at the same time and that makes it exciting.

Also, and that's probably what really makes it special, this is the first time they're out in public together after what everybody refers to as _The Announcement_, which was about three months ago and caused a little social media tsunami in his part of the internet. Admittedly, Leo made it so that it was a bit of a shock for everybody and had quite fun doing it.

After keeping it a secret for several years – and spending most of that time figuring out how to deal with each other – it was time for them to tell the world about their _unusual family arrangement_, that is how Blaine defines him. Leo and Levi mostly call it _the mess you made_, with various level of irony, especially on Leo's part. And there was no better moment to tell the world how they live than a few months before the release of Levi's new graphic novel, which describes in painstaking details how the five of them ended up sharing a life and, partially, a house.

Sometimes around his thirty-third birthday – Leo knows the exact date but he never says it aloud – Cody was hit by a truck, quite literally. That's a very weird way to start a love story, but the love story itself is weird, so it's only fair that it starts in an unusual way. Vince, who was still Cody's husband at the time, called Leo to give him a chance to say his last goodbye because it didn't look like Cody was gonna make it through the night.  
Quite predictably, Leo freaked out.

That night, Blaine brought Leo to the hospital and Leo demanded to be let in into Cody's room. He was so out of his mind that he was convinced he was still in college, and therefore he presented himself as Cody's boyfriend to a very confused nurse, and in front of Cody's husband, his own husband and Cody's son. That was, in some way, the beginning of it all.

Miraculously enough, Cody woke up and he spent the months that followed recovering from his wounds and shamelessly bonding with Leo in a way that would lead very quickly to his divorce. Knowing Leo as the back of his hand and loving him more than was probably healthy, Blaine helped them be together, instead of throwing Leo out of the house for cheating on him, which happened a couple of times during Cody's recovering. Blaine established some ground rules – the most important of which was that they could not have sex, except in very specific exceptional cases – and then he progressively, if not consistently, started to join them during their make out sessions every now and then.

They started to have this weird relationship where Leo and Blaine were married and Leo had a boyfriend, and sometimes he shared that boyfriend with his husband. It went on for three whole years, which gave Cody enough time to definitely move in with them in a room of his own and Timmy enough time to hate them all for their irresponsible behavior.

Then Levi happened. One day Cody showed up to Leo and told him he had found himself a boyfriend. Hell broke loose, of course, because Leo is not exactly a reasonable person – and he's also jealous as fuck, which doesn't help in these situations – words were thrown around, pieces of furniture were broken and there was a brief but very intense return to psychopharmaceuticals by Leo. Then, with Blaine's help as per usual, everything fell into place again. It helped that Levi was a very level-headed person, as calm and confident as Leo was cranky and insecure. He accepted the established relationship(s) as it was before he arrived and all the rules that Leo added afterwards, demanding only to have some allotted time to spend with Cody alone.

And that was it, they were four: Leo had a husband and a boyfriend who also had a boyfriend. It was an insane situation but one that was insanely easy to slip into.

When Levi decided to draw the whole story in a graphic novel that he, of course, intended to publish, he went to Leo first to ask for permission and broke the news to him very tactfully – because, as much as Leo hates him a little for that, Levi knows exactly how to deal with him – expecting him to freak out about it, but Leo had been dying to tell the world their story for so long at that point, that he just went out of his mind with happiness.

After a little family meeting (and more than a few calls with their agents), they all agreed that the news could not come out with the graphic novel, which already had a title: _The Odd Man Out_. It was too big of a news to just throw it out like that, and so the idea of _The Announcement_ came up. Leo's close relationship with his social media made his blog the perfect place to explain the world how Leo and Blaine had became Leo and Blaine plus two.

Since then, though, neither him nor them ever spoke a word on the matter again, so he just knows their fans and some press are here for blood today, especially since all three of them will be stuck with their book presentations and unable to avoid their questions as they all did in the past three months. But they are ready, or at least he is.

In fact, he's got plans for today.

“Are you sure about this? Did you ask him first?” Blaine inquires as he follows him into yet another crazy endeavor. 

“Yes and, obviously no,” Leo answers as he moves among the book fair stands as if he knew the map by heart, which he probably does. Since he was very young, it's been his habit to learn the layouts of any book fair of comic convention, so not to have to carry the map all the time and have his hands free. “If I'd asked him, he would have said no.”  
“Maybe that would be the right course of action. He might get upset.”

Leo looks around, frowns for a moment and then he smirks when he finally locate the right conference room. “I've never seen Levi upset in five years,” he comments. “I don't think the man is capable of being upset.”

“He's just very very patient,” Blaine mutters under his breath, knowing very well that if this arrangement is working it's because Levi helps him out with his otherworldly ability to accept and adapt.

The presentation of _The Odd Man Out_ has started about twenty minutes ago and Leo's own presentation is in two hours, so that gives him more than enough time to go and say hi to Levi. And maybe, if he's lucky and he can convince him, they can both go and crash Cody's presentation, which is scheduled between theirs.

When they get inside, the conference room is already full. Most of the places in the first three rows are occupied by insiders with their press badges, and behind them there's a big group of people wearing shirts with some of Levi's most famous characters from several past graphic novels.

Levi himself is wearing a shirt saying _I AM the Odd Man_ over a pair of jeans that have seen better days. He's sitting in his usual position: on the edge of his chair, the upper half of his body leaning forward. He's telling everybody how he came up with the concept of the graphic novel, answering a question that was undoubtedly aimed at a specific answer. But Levi seems intentioned to leave them hanging for a while and so he's explaining the mental process that has brought him to draw the novel, which has very little to do with them all.

He didn't wake up one day deciding he was going to draw their life. There was something he wanted to tell the world, a feeling he wanted to express and the story – as all the stories and his especially – came to serve him. Leo would gladly keep listening to him talking, because all Levi's artistic processes are fascinating, but he's a man with a mission and he won't let anything distract him.

“Go and sit on the front,” Leo instructs Blaine. “Draw his attention to you. I'm gonna surprise him.”

It means that he's gonna try and pass through the backstage if they let him. Luckily for him, there's someone he knows very well chatting with the promoters of this book presentation. “What are you doing here?” Mark asks him, suddenly alert. If there's something he learned in all these years he's been Leo's agent, is that if Leo is not where he's supposed to be, then he's got a problem. And if he's got a problem, who knows what could happen?

Leo smiles mischievously at him. “I need help to get on that stage.”

“Do I want to know why?” Mark sighs, resigned. In the beginning he would fight for every little thing, then he learned to compromise and give in whenever the consequences are more ore less acceptable, so he can put the foot down more effectively when it really counts.

“Publicity stunt,” he answers quickly, to which the promoters of Levi's book presentation, among which his agent, beam. And before anyone could change his mind, Leo walks past them and towards the stage.

At this point, Levi is confirming to the audience that the story is indeed partially (spoiler: totally) autobiographic and that some of the people involved are, indeed, famous. He's making names, the wretched skunk! “Leo is a very nice and outgoing guy and we get along, but it hasn't been easy because... let's say he has a strong personality—And he's right behind me, isn't he?”

The audience laughs, having seen Leo approaching way before Levi could sense him. “You're lying and you know it,” Leo says, chuckling as he grabs the microphone someone on the stage gives him. “I have a strong personality, but it hasn't been easy because you have no sense of time. You see, people, we have a strict schedule, as you do when you have to juggle four men who intensely want to be with each other, and you manage to make a mess of it every single time. That and me being insanely jealous is what makes it hard. We live with two saints.”

“And that's indeed true,” Levi admits, even though he knows that most of the time he's one of the saints too. “How long have you been planning this, if I may ask?”

Leo pretends to think about it. “Um, let me see, pretty much since you came to me and told me you were gonna tell everybody what was going on,” he says. “Right then and there I had this clear mental image of you trying to professionally explain your work while I clowned around on stage. I'm living a dream, right now!”

The audience laughs again, and amid laughter, a young woman raises her hand. “Please,” Leo nods towards her, giving her permission to talk. And then he realizes that maybe it wasn't his place to talk. “I'm sorry, was it already time for questions? I just went with it.”

Levi chuckles, resigned. “No, please, take over my presentation, I'm begging you.”

“He hates to speak in public if you hadn't notice,” Leo whispers in the microphone. Then, raising his voice, “Alright, hit me.”

The young woman stands up and pulls down her t-shirt. “I've read the graphic novel—“

“Thank you!” Levi chimes in, raising a hand.

She chuckles. “And I loved how the progressive inclusion of the main character is narrated,” she goes on. “You could feel all the emotions involved, especially the hard feeling. In the novel, it is a very long and very painful and hard process. Was it just to add drama to the story or that's exactly how it went down?”

“It didn't go down exactly like that,” Levi answers.

“Oh, but it was hard,” Leo nods. It's been years now, but he remembers very well what he felt when the idea of having to share Cody became real.

“It was,” Levi confirms, nodding. “I wasn't just intruding in one relationship, but two. And you don't step in that kind of ocean without making some ripples. But that's kinda of the point of the novel, isn't it? This game of balancing everybody's emotions. People always ask us “How do you divide your time?” “Who decides what?” “How do you do this? How do you do that?”, they want to know the day-to-day routine, you know? But these things are inconsequential. I mean, organization is key and I suck at it, but it's definitely not the hardest part. We have different needs, different fears and different sensibilities, and despite having found some sort of balance, we're still working on it.”

Leo looks at him, his legs crossed and a hand covering his mouth in an exaggerated expression of utter emotion. “See? That is why we kept you. Blaine's the wise, practical one. I'm the crazy emotional trainwreck. And you are the poet, the true artistic soul.”

“What about Cody?” Levi asks, chuckling.

“He's obviously the cute one,” Leo promptly answers. Then, he turns to the audience again, “We're, like, a Korean Idol band. There's one of us for every type of guy. I think we're only missing the nerdy one.”

Levi grins. “Are we looking for that?”

“Absolutely not,” it's Leo's instant, quite rigid reply.

Levi chuckles. “See? That is what I was talking about. I can joke with him until I can't anymore. Do I know where to stop now? Sort of. Did I know in the beginning, absolutely not—“

“Definitely not,” Leo shakes his head.

“And it's the same with everything else,” Levi concludes with a smile. “Every little thing needs studying and adjusting and tuning. There's a passage in the novel where the guy describes the situation like _walking on stained glass window _. This is what he meant with that. Every single piece is extremely fragile and it can break at any moment, but the big picture formed by all those single pieces is breathtaking and it's worth the walk on glass.”

Leo lets out a silly squeak and stands up to give him a hug, which Levi welcomes and reciprocates. “Now I'm gonna cry,” he mumbles. Luckily, he manages to keep himself in check. It wouldn't be the first time that Levi makes him cry of happiness, and it wouldn't even be the first time that he cries on a stage, but he's not here to turn the presentation into waterworks. “Oh, look! Another question! Stand up, stand up, let me see you.”

It's another girl, a little younger than the previous one, sporting a t-shirt that Leo knows very well because there's a reference to one of his books. “Hi Levi. And I Leo,” she waves quickly. “I'm your big fan, by the way. I'm gonna be at your presentation later.”

“Then I'll be waiting for you there,” Leo smiles, charmingly.

“Should I go?” Levi asks, pretending to stand up.

“No! No!” The girl chuckles. “Please, stay. So, I have a bit of a personal question.”

Leo raises an eyebrow. “Is she dropping the bomb?”

“I don't know, maybe. I'm not sure how I feel about that,” Levi replies, thoughtfully.

The girl chuckles again. “No, not _that_ personal. I was just wondering if you draw the graphic novel with them around and if they help you with anything, especially Cody, since he's an illustrator.”

“Oh, I don't live with them,” Levi explains, sitting back on his chair.

“He's quite literally the man _out_ in every sense.” Leo can't help it and he bursts out laughing.

“You're a douchebag,” Levi comments with a chuckles, before turning to the girl again. “It would be impossible for me to work there. I'm very jealous of my spaces and I'm a very fussy worker. I need complete silence and sometimes I isolate myself for weeks at a time. It wouldn't work well with the...”

“The madhouse that's usually my house,” Leo finishes for him. Everything Levi said is true; he is a very private person, who needs his solitude more than any of them does. But what is also true is that they never really talked about him moving in because that's Leo's territory and Leo doesn't want to share that. Levi knows very well that keeping Cody under his own roof is critical for Leo to deal with the whole arrangement. There's no way he would agree on giving that alpha male privilege away.

Leo is well aware that this is stupid and that Cody is not a thing he can own and dispose of, but still it's a no – and it'll probably always be – and he always appreciate Levi for understanding that. 

“As far as getting their help,” Levi makes a face. “As a said, I'm very fussy and I like to work alone, so no. I asked some clarifications here and there and a lot of permissions, but I did it all by myself.”

They go on for a while and it's really fun, but most of all it's a relief. They can talk about their life without measuring any words or avoiding specific topics – even better, without lying to the face of anybody asking anything vaguely related to their personal life. Plus, they play around a lot, because that's what they do when they're alone, except the very rare and exceptional kisses, and they are very entertaining. In fact, they would go on even more, but the conference room is scheduled by someone else and they literally run out of time.

By the time they get off stage and they join Blaine – who welcomes them like a proud father seeing his kids finally getting along – Leo realizes that it's almost time for Cody's presentation and he gets an idea. “Do you wanna save the princess with me?” He asks Levi.

“You want to crash his presentation too, don't you?”

Leo makes a face. “It sounds bad if you say like that,” he pouts. “There's gonna be questions and he will be embarrassed. He needs us.”

Leo doesn't know if Levi believes him – probably not – but he knows he won't say no because anything regarding Cody is irresistible. In fact, he gives in. “Fine, but let's make it straight, if he gets angry, this was your idea.”

“Oh he will not.”  
And even if, Leo will find a way to apologize.


End file.
